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Sandy Springs
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| December 1st,
2005
Dessert Wines
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So many people have been told that dessert should not be paired
with wine that one constantly runs afoul of raised eyebrows
at the mere suggestion. What a shame! While pairing wine with
dessert does require the assiduous adherence to a few rules,
it's certainly not difficult to do.
Then you run into people who don't like sweet wines, a position
that, I'm convinced, is an intellectual posture. Someone has
these people convinced sweet wines aren't "sophisticated."
What rubbish!
A new book from Chronicle Books could help change much of this
misbegotten perspective. The
Wine Lover's Dessert Cookbook ($24.95), by Mary Cech and
Jennie Schacht, with luscious photography by Frankie Frankeny,
came out in October, just in time for holiday entertaining.
Manageable in size--I detest oversized cookbooks--with lovely
photography and delicious recipes, the book deals with some
of the sensible rules that should govern pairing wine with dessert.
A simple graph on p. 23 supplies useful rules, the most ironclad
of which is probably that the wine should always be sweeter
than the dessert.
I learned this one the hard way, with a pear jam tart that I
served with a Hill-Smith Late Harvest Riesling. If you let considerable
time elapse between bites of tart and sips of wine, you did
just fine. Otherwise, the dessert made the wine taste dry and
austere.
Another rule that's inviolate, and sensible also for pairing
table wines with savory fare, is to match weight.
Light-bodied wines should pair with uncomplicated light-bodied
fare, and that goes for desserts as well. Heavier wines are
great with richer dishes, such as creme brulee.
If you have a great wine, go with a simple dessert. If fortune
lands a bottle of Château d'Yquem in your Christmas stocking,
savor it with only a simple cookie, such as langue de chat.
(Although I did break this rule once many years ago, serving
this elixir of a wine in utter ignorance with a rich chocolate
Sacher torte that, as luck would have it, featured apricot layers
instead of the more traditional raspberry. Chocolate and Sauternes
are a no-no, says the classicist, but I'm here to tell you,
that was divine. However, a raspberry layer would have ruined
the whole experience.)
The book has useful graphs for pairing wines and keeping things
simple, and I find no fault with any of the suggestions given.
Discussions include easy-to-follow information about how sweet
wines are made, ingredients for making classic desserts and
tips on how to handle and store such ingredients. Pastry-making
equipment is touched on as well as techniques. All seem to be
sage counsel.
A suggestion for the second edition: Include the recommended
wines in the index so the reader doesn't have to flip through
every recipe trying to find what had been suggested with a given
wine.
I predict this book will induce consumers to experiment with
dessert wines. Enjoy!
Jane Garvey
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Hardys Botrytis
Semillon 2002
South Eastern Australia (Padthaway and Clare Valley)
Tasting Notes: Full-bodied sweet
wine with a medium deep golden yellow color. Aromas focus on
spicy quince-like characters with dried apricot and a hint of
wet straw. Flavors balance lusciously sweet yellow stone fruits
with lemon-lime drops. Brisk acidity carries the long finish
to a palate-cleansing conclusion. Nothing icky sticky about
this one. Texture is silky. Mighty fine work. Twelve months
in old and new French oak. Residual sugar 21 g/l is balanced
against a low ph (3.29) and good acidity (8.6 g/l). Serve moderately
chilled (about 55 degrees) in a tall diamond-shaped glass (Riedel
ice wine glass is perfect) or in a classic tulip-shaped white
wine glass.
Food Pairings: Creamy blue
cheeses, such as Cambozola (wonderful!), not-too-aggressive
lemony-lemon squares (DeKalb Farmers Market), ginger-lemon
pound cake, cream-based fruit tart, simple cookie (langue
de chat, madeleines) In the book, the Brown
Sugar-Glazed Bananas with Roasted Peanuts and Lime (p. 96)
is paired with a Late Harvest Semillon from Carmenet, but
the Hardy's Botrytised Semillon should will do just as well.
The Mascarpone Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake on p. 118 is paired
with the Lindeman's Griffith Botrytis Late Harvest Semillon,
also a nice wine to try.
Wholesaler: National Distributing
Company
$15/375 ml. bottle
Where to Get: Hitting the
Atlanta market in mid-December...give your retailer the wholesaler
information so they can order for you. Cagney's Party Shop
in Columbus GA already has ordered.
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Available at: Tower (Doraville), Mink's (I-75 & Delk Rd.),
Pearson's (Buckhead), Toco Giant, The Wine Cellars (Market
Village, Smyrna), Smyrna World of Beverages (S. Cobb Dr. n
of E-W Connector), Bullock's (both), Bottoms Up (Seven Winds
Shopping Center, Alpharetta) Restaurants: Vinocity
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Chambers
Rosewood Vineyard Muscat NV
Rutherglen, Australia
Tasting Notes: Medium-full-bodied
sweet wine with a medium brick red color, with golden lights.
Aromas of raisins, dried yellow fruits, touch of spice. Silky
texture, positively glides on the tongue. Flavors focus on dried
red fruits, caramel. Alcohol at 18.5% supplies a lovely warmth.
Long finish. Sweet but balanced. Explosive flavors. Serve moderately
cool, about 60 degrees, in diamond-shaped ice wine glasses (such
as from Riedel) or in small Port/Sherry glasses. Will keep once
opened if re-corked and kept cold.
Food Pairings: Rich puddings
and custards, spice cake, fruit cake, dried fruits and toasted
almonds, spiced pecans. Also works as an aperitif especially
in cold weather with nuts. The book pairs the more expensive
Chambers Special Muscat with Double Plum Gallettes (p. 40),
biut this one might work, too.
Wholesaler: United Distributors
$16/375 ml.
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Available at: Pearson's (Buckhead), Whole Foods (Briarcliff);
Toco Giant, Restaurants: BluePointe; The Dining Room, Ritz-Carlton,
Buckhead |
Olivares
Dulce Monastrell 2000
Jumilla, Spain
Tasting Notes: Full bodied inky
dark purple red sweet wine. Aromas of dark dried and fresh fruits,
touch of rich fig, raisin, prune. Concentrated dark fruit flavors.
Balanced, drinks like a Port but is lighter in alcohol. Compelling,
requiring frequent re-sippings. Fermentation stopped by addition
of less than 2% alcohol. Unfiltered. Monastrell in Spain is
Mourvedre in France. Most vines 30-40 years old, some planted
in 1872 and are ungrafted, that is, on own rootstock. Amazing.
Serve at cool room temperature, about 60-65 degrees, in small
Port-style glasses.
Food Pairings: Dark chocolate,
dried fruits, rich cheeses, walnuts. The book pairs this with
a Chocolate Souffle Roulade (p. 160).
Wholesaler: Quality Wine &
Spirits
$26/500 ml. bottle |
Available at these retail stores: Hiram Bottle Shop (Jimmy Lee
Smith Pkwy.), Mink's (I-75 & Delk Rd.), The Wine Cellars
(Market Village, Smyrna); Smyrna World of Beverages (S. Cobb
Dr.), Sherlock's (East Cobb), Bullock's (Sandy Plains) Restaurant:
Fogo de Chao |
Errazuriz
Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2004
Casablanca Valley, Chile
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
sweet white wine; medium pale straw. Intense aromatics feature
grapefruit and honey, blossoms, flavors focus on grapefruit,
honey, touch of apricot with clean, crisp acidity and a very
long, mouthwatering finish Intense yet light on the palate,
not syrupy or sticky. Moderate alcohol for this genre, 11.5%.
Single vineyard, La Escultura Estate. Potential keeper for a
couple of years, but the freshness is likely to tilt toward
a candied character. I prefer it now. Great value.
Food Pairings: Lemon bars
(not too tart), cream-filled fruit tarts; simple cookie, apple-based
desserts (strudels, tarte tatin, vanilla custard, zabaglione
on fresh fruit. Consider also as an aperitif wine with creamy
goose liver mousse. Awesome! In the book, on p. 78, it's paired
with an Apple Citrus Custard Tart and try it with these recipes
from the book, Honey
Ricotta Tart or the Lemon
Cream Mousse
Wholesaler: United Distributors
$12
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Available at: Dixie Beverage (Woodstock), Embry Village, Beverage
Mart (US 41/Acworth), Whole Foods (Briarcliff, Ponce de Leon);
Beverage Super Store (Suwanee), Bullock's (both), Bottoms Up
(Seven Winds Shopping Center, Alpharetta), Tower Piedmont. Restaurants:
Two Urban Licks; Apres Diem, Carpe Diem, Carroll St. Cafe, Horseradish
Grill |
Quady Elysium
2004
California
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
sweet wine; deep black ruby color. Intense rose-petal aromas,
whiff of wet hay, with explosive flavors that suggest rich
dark fruits ranging from blackberries to black currants. Silky
textured, with brisk acidity. Serve cool to moderately chilled,
about 55 degrees, in medium-bowled tulip-shaped glasses.
Food Pairings: Perhaps the
most flexible dessert wine of the lot: Dark fruit cobbler
or clafoutis; puddings with dark fruits; cream-based fruit
tarts; bleu cheeses (screaming awesome); milk or dark chocolate
(Cadbury's fruit and nut milk chocolate). Book suggests the
Bittersweet Chocolate Hazelnut Torte with Brandied Currants
and Orange (p. 138), a match that sounds like wicked delicious
Wholesaler: National Distributing
Company
$15/375 ml.
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Available at: Embry Village Wine & Spirits, Whole Foods
(Briarcliff, Sandy Springs), Mink's (I-75 & Delk Rd.), Pearson's
(Buckhead), Toco Giant, Divie Beverage (Woodstock), Sherlock's
(East Cobb), Beverage Mart (U.S. 41/Acworth), Bullock's (both),
Bottoms Up (Seven Winds Shopping Center, Alpharetta) |
Taylor Fladgate
10-Year Tawny
Portugal
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied
medium sweet wine with a rose-tinged amber color. Aromas of
toffee, nut brickle, toasted nuts, aromatic brown spices;
flavors a bit lean, but focused on the spices and brown sugar
character of tawny. Strong, warming alcohol, so it handles
richness well. Moderate length. Very good value. Serve slightly
cool in small tulip-shaped glasses.
Food Pairings: Stilton cheese
and walnuts; dried fruits; fruitcake, spice cake or cookie,
milk chocolate (Cadbury's fruit & nut in milk chocolate
awesome), fig and almond cake (Whole Foods), pecan pie. In
the book (p. 132) it's paired with the Honeyed Fig Tart. A
10-year tawny also is suggested with the Caramel Macadamia
Tart on p. 149, and this one should serve well with it.
Wholesaler: National Distributing
Company
$30
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